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Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Cancer is a disease that
can impact any tissue in the body.When
normal tissue cells become cancerous (malignant), they lose some of the
fundamental properties of the tissue cells they originated from.They also grow out of control and ultimately
spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body where they bring chaos and
instability.The transformation that
normal cells undergo when they become cancerous is known to be a result of
genetic changes to the cells complement of DNA.In some types of cancer there is a definitive hereditary genetic component
as in certain types of breast cancer, for example.A widely accepted model for the
transformation of normal cells to the cancerous state involves spontaneous
somatic mutation(s).There are many
man-made organic chemicals in the environment that are known to initiate the
onset of cancers; these are collectively referred to as carcinogenic compounds.Carcinogens have also been shown to be
mutagens – chemical agents that cause genetic mutations.

The conventional
therapies that are applied to a patient that presents with cancer has generally
involved the use of chemotherapeutic drugs and/or radiation treatment. The therapies that employ these agents are
referred to as a shotgun approach; since, they do not discriminate between
normal and cancer cells
Chemotherapeutic drugs target any cell that is actively dividing and
radiation damages cellular DNA that results in cell death. Although these techniques have become refined
over the years, they still suffer from this serious limitation.

This is where
Immunotherapy offers an important advantage; because, treatments that use
immunotherapy specifically target cancerous cells. What follows is a discussion of the rationale
of some of these approaches.

Succinctly stated, “Immunotherapy
is treatment that uses certain parts of a person’s immune system to fight
diseases such as cancer.” This can be accomplished in a number of ways. The patient’s natural immune system can be
enhanced to better target cancerous cells.
This is possible; because, an important component of the immune system
is referred to as, “the cancer surveillance system.” Certain subsets of cells in the immune system
are designed to target any cell that possesses antigens on their cell surface
that are indicative of the fact that it has been transformed, These antigens indicate to the immune system
that the cell is no longer self and thereby becomes subject to
destruction. Another approach involves
the addition of human manufactured immune system – related proteins. This capability is possible on account of the
fact the cellular manufacture of unique proteins depends upon a particular
gene Technologies are in wide use that
can insert a particular human gene into bacteria in culture and have the
bacteria manufacture the human protein product.
This approach has made possible the mass production of human insulin and
human growth hormone, for example. In
addition, some types of immunotherapy are also referred to as biologic therapy
or biotherapy.

The methodologies that
are currently being tested and employed can be classified in the following way
–

·Monoclonal
Antibodies -Once an antigen specific for a certain
type of cancer has been isolated, antibodies can be manufactured that are specific
to that antigen. This antibody can then be
introduced into the patient with that cancer.
Once the circulating monoclonal antibodies bind to cancer cells, this
triggers the immune system to target those cells and destroy them.

·Immune
Checkpoint Inhibitors – The immune system is
a very powerful system that has built-in safeguards to keep it under rigorous
control i.e. to make it possible to destroy transformed cancerous cells leaving
normal cells intact. This is
accomplished by immune checkpoint factors.
These factors are on certain cells in the immune system and need to be
activated or inactivated to trigger the immune response. Some cancer cell types can use this system to
prevent it from being used against them.
For these cancers, checkpoint inhibitors are designed to interact with
these factors and render them ineffectual; thereby, improving the potency of
the immune system targeting cancerous cells.

·Cancer
Vaccines - Cancer vaccines are
being developed to treat or even prevent the onset of certain types of cancer.

The following is a table
that summarizes some of these data –

Type of Cancer

Methodology Employed

Rationale

Chronic Lymphocytic
Leukemia (CLL)

Monoclonal Antibodies

The monoclonal
antibody that has been used targets the CD 20 cell-surface antigen that is in
high concentration in some forms of this disease.

Advanced Colorectal
Cancer (CRC)

Immune Checkpoint
Inhibitors

Many inhibitors are
currently being produced and tested.
Some benefit has been shown with certain cancers that are particularly
difficult to treat.

Cervical, Advanced
Prostate and Bladder Cancer

Cancer Vaccine

Cervical cancer, for
example, is known to be caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV). Therefore, a vaccine that targets this
virus can prevent the onset of cervical cancer

It should be remembered
that the use of immunotherapy in treating cancer remains in its infancy and
requires additional research efforts to improve its efficacy and diminish known
side-effects. However, it is an
exceedingly promising approach and is worthy of continued research efforts and
support.

About Me

I
am a resident of Seattle, Washington. I was raised in the Bronx, New
York, in an exceedingly diverse environment that had a profound effect
on my view of the world and humanity. In addition to the published
works available on this site, my work has appeared in literary
magazines, anthologies and on the Internet. I have a diverse
professional background encompassing education, the sciences and
technology.

Writing and Art have
always been an integral part of my creative life and telling stories
through words and images the avenue through which I examine the
dimensions of the human spirit. If there is an underlying theme in my
work, it is to explore the many facets of the human experience.

The Place of Science in Our Lives

Throughout human history, ignorance surrounding the external world of nature and the internal world of the human mind has enabled the crippling effects of superstition, fear and violence. It is the progressive and cumulative advance of science and scientific discovery that has dispelled much of this misunderstanding about ourselves and our environment. Hopefully, humans will utilize the secrets that science will help unravel to ultimately be able to break free from the seemingly endless cycle of violence and retribution that has plagued civilization for so long.